Cause for apparent softness?
I just posted this same photo in the recent D80 thread since I was the one who mentioned having infrequent-but-undeniable problems with autofocus. Apologies for the cross-posting. Large size is to help see what I'm talking about; seems soft around the subject's eyes and neck jewelry (?).
Stationary subject
I was stationary, too
Cloudy, but decent light
He was maybe eighty feet away. I had the VR function enabled.
(Sorry, I don't have the EXIF data handy so I can't say what settings were used)
Cold day - approximately freezing or just below.
Flag was moving around quite a bit, but I had plenty of time to pre-focus when the flag was well out of the way of his face.
DX VR 18 - 200 lens
Sorry, I can't remember the AF settings. I'm pretty sure I default to AF-S. For this shot, I selected the center AF point, locked the focus, then recomposed.
Could stand a better crop, but I got the shot I wanted with patience.
It just looks a bit soft to me. Could the cold conditions, including the chilled-battery effect- have caused this? Or is that just too tight of a desired focal point (left of the flagpole) for my AF settings? Doesn't seem to be camera shake.
Thanks...